Lose The Sugar, Gain Your Health

According to Men’s Health magazine, the average person consumes 300 extra grams of sugar per day. What a load of crap. No, literally, that equals a crap-load of bad food. Maybe it’s time to start paying attention to what you’re consuming, specifically sugar. Not the natural sugar found in fruits and dairy and such; the processed sugar like in salad dressings, pasta sauces, syrup…you know, all the good stuff. It may not be easy, but here are five very compelling reasons to put the sweet stuff down.

Increase Your Chances Of Living Longer

It’s time to put your hands up and walk away from the doughnuts and pizza. According to research by Dr. James DiNicolantonio, of St. Luke’s Mid-Atlantic Heart Institute in Kansas City, the chances of dying from heart problems drops threefold just by cutting out sugar. The main reason for this is, per Dr. DiNicolantonio, “Added sugar chronically raises insulin levels, which activates the sympathetic nervous system, increasing blood pressure and heart rate.” In other words, not good.

Have Clear Skin

We know you’re a grown man, but you’re never too old to develop the lovely, pimple-covered visage of a prepubescent arcade rat. Too much sugar consumption causes inflammation, irritation, and redness of the skin. Swap out your next syrupy cocktail for a martini. Choose almonds over chips. And when you’re finally ready to shave that beard, a woman will see clear, smooth, kissable skin.

Avoid Diabetes

Oh boy. This is a biggie. Do you know why gluttonous, decadent gorging leads to type 2 diabetes? Because the added sugar builds up fatty deposits all around your liver, leading to insulin resistance, and guess what? Now your pancreas can’t do its job—which is to break down food and regulate the body’s glucose (sugar levels). Help a brother out, and by that, I mean your pancreas.

Sleep Better

When you start feeling sluggish in the middle of the day, don’t reach for a soda to perk you up, because we all know the brief sugar high will be followed by an inevitable crash, leaving you worse off than you were before. Chug some water. Go take a quick walk. Get some fresh air. You’ll also find yourself sleeping more soundly, since you won’t have cortisol (the hormone triggered by sugar) rushing through your veins, slapping you in the face to keep you awake at night.

Lose Extra Pounds

Spring is upon us, with summer right around the corner. And as we all know, losing weight takes time. But you can speed up the process by, what? Cutting out sugar! Cutting back your daily sugar intake by 200 calories could help you drop up to 10 pounds in the next 5-6 months. Notice I said 200 calories of sugar, not just 200 calories of your total daily intake.

So, it’s time to start paying more attention to labels and nutritional facts, and to cut all crap out so you can be your best, healthiest self.